On Friday, March 12, we welcome special favorite Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem back to the me&thee. All of roots music is a stage for daisy mayhem, and this four-piece string band loves nothing more than choreographing a jubilant mix of traditional, original, and contemporary sounds. Daisy mayhem celebrates America’s rich musical past and brings it into the present with good humor, impeccable musicianship, powerful songwriting, and a clear love of playing together. Here are four musicians who pick up what’s lying around — from tin cans to old songs and wry observations of modern life — and create something new. Singer-songwriter Kevin Connolly opens the show.

With Rani Arbo’s bewitching alto at the helm, stunning vocal harmonies, a 100% recycled drum set, fiddle, guitar, and bass, daisy mayhem “has a grand knack for pumping new blood into old music” (The Boston Globe). Rani and her bandmates cite influences from Doc Watson to Django Reinhardt, from Ghanaian drumming to the funky Meters, and from Fiddlin’ John Carson to Bob Dylan, the band consists of Rani Arbo, Andrew Kinsey, Scott Kessel and Anand Nayak.

Arbo is the fiddler, lead singer, and founder of daisy mayhem. With a bewitching, expressive alto that is equal parts choir girl, flirty teenager, and world-weary woman, she navigates swing tunes, funky call-and-response songs, and ballads with unusual honesty and ease. Steeped in thirty years of choral singing, Arbo also spent years with a honkytonk band, a Balkan rock band, and folk-bluegrass band Salamander Crossing. A cellist by training, her swampy, self-taught fiddling draws from swing, blues, and old-time music. On stage, Arbo brings a rich life — as a 15-year veteran performer, breast cancer survivor, mother, and songwriter — into humble and compelling performances. Arbo also has toured and recorded with Joan Baez, John McCutcheon, and many others.

Kinsey began his musical life as the youngest bagpiper in his town. Since then, he has taken up the slightly more socially acceptable double bass, with frequent regressions to the ukulele and banjo. Arbo’s singing partner for over fifteen years, his rich, compelling baritone, generous spirit, and rock-solid bass playing keep Daisy Mayhem glued together. Kinsey’s musical and humorous sensibilities inspired the band’s debut CD, Cocktail Swing, which romps through vintage country, swing and jazz chestnuts. Kessel was once a regular (albeit unusually talented) kit drummer — but in Daisy Mayhem he pilots the unforgettable “Drumship Enterprise,” a recycled drum kit comprised of a cardboard box, cat food tins, a Danish butter cookie tin, and a suitcase. Riveting to watch (especially during solos), Kessel mixes up American rock and pop beats with African, Afro-Cuban, New Orleans, and South American rhythms to create the foundation of Daisy Mayhem’s unmistakable groove. Nayak fell for the guitar as a teenager and has been a lost cause ever since, exploring music and instruments from all over the world. A powerful singer and songwriter with a rare gift for arranging and a gutsy guitar style that draws from a century’s worth of jazz, funk, blues and folk masters, Nayak’s work features prominently on Daisy Mayhem’s second record, Gambling Eden. Along with Kessel, he is the band’s enthusiastic pilot through challenging genre crossings.

Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem photo by Samantha Schutz

Writing and performing for almost twenty years, Kevin Connolly has carved out his own way of writing American songs and earned a reputation as a passionate performer. Connolly has toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe while maintaining a strong presence and tie to his New England roots. Working the college and coffeehouse circuit solo, Kevin has also played major festivals including Newport Folk, SXSW, Kerrville Folk and Bumbershoot. He has opened for a long list of notable artists including Indigo Girls, Huey Lewis, Todd Rundgren and Joan Osborne. Locally, Kevin plays solo acoustic but most often with his band or some version thereof. Kevin’s songs have also appeared on network television in episodes of NBC’s “First Watch” and in films like Danny Aiello’s “Mojave Moon.”

Photo by Stan Grossfeld

On Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem:

Neo old-timey with cosmopolitan splashes of modern pop and jazz The Boston Globe

A reminder that musical categories are a necessity for catalogs and record stores, not for lovers of music. Sing Out! Magazine

This quartet has a rare gift for fashioning hip, sleek sounds from the solid cloth of vintage American music. The Boston Globe

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem’s sweeping, timeless melodies float above ingenious arrangements. The Boston Globe

As hard to classify as it is to praise highly enough . . . an intoxicating blend of roots music styles, with deep traditional roots and a healthy futuristic outlook. Strongly recommended. The Rogue Folk Review, Vancouver BC

. . .

. . . [Kevin] Connolly’s music cuts a fairly wide swath through pop music culture, touching on everything from blues to folk to country to rock — and often a combination of all four. New York Times

The songs reflect his grounding in an array of roots music styles . . . earthy, rhythmic collections of dark-tinged musings, rich ballads. The gravelly, weatherbeaten voice of Connolly gives life to vivid vignettes sculpted from painstaking realism. His live performances are intense, the focused flow of music and energy interspersed with dry, laconic humor. Dirty Linen Magazine

. . . Literary, serious, reflective, soulful, eclectic, blues-driven . . . the crowd needed two encores, a testimony to Connolly’s ability to spin his energy into the room. Boston Phoenix